Auliʻi Cravalho was just 16 years old when she landed her breakthrough role as Moana. And today, eight years later, she once again steps into the iconic Disney character at the premiere of the highly anticipated sequel, Moana 2.

“Playing Moana was the chance of a lifetime – voicing a character who isn’t afraid to grab a demigod by the ear and take him on a journey across the sea is a lot of fun,” Cravalho said in an email -Mail interview, referring to the role of Moana’s superhuman friend Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson).

Moana set sail for her first cinematic adventure in 2016. She used the ancient navigation technique of wayfinding, which relies on stars, wind, waves and other clues from nature to find a path or direction.

Wayfinding can also be applied as a philosophy, a way to find your true self in the world. And this year, “Moana 2” builds on that initial adventure of self-discovery with a much broader mission that may test her leadership skills: bringing diverse island tribes together.

“When we meet her in this sequel, three years have passed in the ‘Moanaverse,'” Cravalho said. “Watching Moana grow into the leader she was always meant to be is so special, and I know I’m not the only one excited to see how far she’ll go!”

Cravalho said that before Moana, she was inspired by another Disney character – a Chinese folk heroine.

“I remember watching the movie ‘Mulan’ over and over again and learning about her heritage as an Asian Pacific Islander and her commitment to family and culture. She was also the first princess to run into battle and kick some butt! I still watch this movie even when I turn 24 and it is still one of my favorite movies today,” she said.

Cravalho’s – and Hawaii’s – multicultural heritage

Moana is widely recognized by viewers as a Polynesian heroine.

Cravalho said that her character “shows wayfinding and navigation by the stars, which is a true piece of indigenous knowledge” and that she is very proud to celebrate the people of the Pacific on the big screen.

But while Cravalho is connected to her character’s culture in part through her own Hawaiian ancestry, she also has roots on another island about 6,000 miles east – Puerto Rico – as well as Chinese, Irish and Portuguese ancestry.

“I am a proud mixed race and grew up with many traditions in my house!” she said.

Cravalho said she felt connected to her mixed heritage through the foods she ate at home.

Cravalho celebrated Chinese New Year by eating noodles for longevity, corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, and Hawaiian dishes like lau lau and lomi lomi salmon for graduation parties. According to Cravalho, homemade pasteles and arroz con gandules — Puerto Rican dishes — were among the “staples” in her family’s refrigerator.

In some ways, Cravalho’s diverse background reflects a small part of the much larger history of migration, including Latinos, to Hawaii.

A popular example: Hawaii’s musical instrument – ​​the ukulele – was brought by Portuguese indentured workers who migrated to Hawaiian sugar plantations in the late 19th century.

A 1901 New York Times article on the “Portorican Exodus” also reported the migration of indentured laborers from the Caribbean island to Hawaii to work on sugar cane plantations, just as in Puerto Rico.

Other Spanish-speaking migrants also left their mark in the Aloha State.

Mexican cowboys taught Hawaiians how to harness, butcher and raise longhorn cattle in the early 19th century. In fact, the Hawaiian word for “cowboy” (“paniolo”) is a version of the word “español” (“Spanish”).

Additionally, a Spanish sailor wrote the first record of Hawaii’s state fruit – the pineapple – in 1813, almost 90 years before James Drummond Dole opened the Hawaiian Pineapple Co.

Looking at Cravalho’s other two lineages of mixed ancestry, less than 5% of Hawaiians identified as Irish in the most recent American Community Survey – just over 66,000. And in an older survey, nearly 237,000 said they had Chinese ancestry (excluding Taiwan).

Reflecting on her beloved character, Cravalho said Moana’s courageous actions are redefining the way girls and women can identify as heroes in pop culture.

“I think Moana really allowed the words ‘hero’ and ‘princess’ to become interchangeable,” she said. “It is amazing to see the ripples of their impact, not just on young women in the decent Pacific Islands, but on countless people across the world.”